Police have identified the 19-year-old girl whose body was found stuffed in a four-foot cooler in an abandoned car.

Dawn McEveerty, known to friends as Molly, was a high school student and part-time graphic designer from Huntington Beach, Los Angeles.

On Sunday afternoon, she was found dead with a single gunshot wound, 'entombed' inside an icer in a stolen red Toyota Celica hatchback in Whittier, Los Angeles.

Her body had been there for around three days, police believe, before a resident on the street noticed a smell coming from the car and went to look inside.

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Dawn McEveerty, known to friends as Molly, was a high school student and part-time graphic designer from Huntington Beach, Los Angeles. On Sunday, she was found dead with a gunshot wound, 'entombed' in an icer

Police inspect a red 1991 Toyota Celica hatchback in Whittier, LA County, on Sunday afternoon after a nearby resident noticed a smell coming from the car, opened it, and found McEveerty's body stuffed in a cooler

According to police, the car was reported stolen days before the murder.

McEveerty had been in custody between September 29 and November 10 after pleading guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a controlled substance.

Last year, she was charged with possession of an opium pipe.

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Speaking to NBC News at the scene on Sunday, Lt. David Coleman said: 'We’ll have the coroner take the vehicle intact to the coroner’s office, and remove the body systematically and figure out what happened.'

Neighbors told NBC they were 'frightened' as the quiet street has become a hot spot for abandoned cars.

The car was transported intact to the coroner's office for a full inspection to determine what happened

'It’s been happening for at least the past year and it’s gotten progressively worse where we’re afraid to go down there,' Josephine Madrid, who lives nearby, told the news station.

'It’s dark and secluded.'

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the LA Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.